Optimization of memory bandwidth in a multi-display system

ABSTRACT

Graphics display adapters for driving multiple display monitors have become very popular. Graphics display adapters that drive multiple monitors can be used to provide terminal services to multiple independent terminals or be used to provide multiple displays to a single user. Generating video signals for multiple display systems puts a heavy burden on the video memory system since multiple different video signal generators may read from associated frame buffers in a shared video memory system. In one disclosed embodiment, a plurality of video memory read triggers are provided wherein at least two of which are staggered to reduce the load on the video memory system. In response to each read trigger, display data is read from a frame buffer to an associated video signal generation circuit. Each video signal generation circuit then provides a display signal to an associated display screen in a multi-screen environment.

FIELD

The present application relates to the field of computer graphics. Inparticular, but not by way of limitation, the present applicationdiscloses techniques for displaying information in a multi displaymonitor environment.

BACKGROUND

Centralized computer systems with multiple computer terminals foraccessing the centralized computer systems were once the dominantcomputer architecture. Mainframe computer systems were shared bymultiple computer users in a manner wherein each individual computeruser had access to a separate computer terminal system coupled to themainframe computer system. Although personal computers have become thedominant form of computing since the 1980's, there has been a resurgenceof the centralized computer system with multiple terminals model ofcomputing. A centralized computer system model provides advantages suchas reduced purchase costs, reduced power consumption, increasedsecurity, and reduced maintenance costs To service multiple terminalsystems, a centralized computer system may simultaneously directly drivethe display systems associated with the multiple terminal systemscoupled to the central computer system.

In addition to a centralized computer system providing multiple videodisplays for multiple terminals, individual computer work stationshaving multiple display system have also become increasingly popular.With multiple display systems coupled to a single computer workstation,a user may simultaneously view multiple documents, images, videos orother video output. Wall Street traders have long used multiple displaysystem in order to monitor many different securities on many differentmarkets. However, many other computer users are now taking advantage ofmultiple display system workstations. A computer programmer may executea test program on one display while having a debugger applicationrunning on a second display. A computer artist may view athree-dimensional model from multiple angles simultaneously. A singlecomputer system may be used to control multiple large monitors toimplement digital signage such as arrival/departure signs in airports.To support these multiple display system capabilities, computerworkstations needs a large video memory system for storing multipleframe buffers that also has the needed memory bandwidth to drive themultiple display systems.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, like numeralsdescribe the same or similar components. The drawings illustrategenerally, by way of example and not by way of limitation, variousexample embodiments.

FIG. 1A illustrates a high-level block diagram of multiple thin-clientterminal systems coupled to a thin-client server computer system.

FIG. 1B illustrates a detailed block diagram of a thin-client terminalsystem coupled to a thin-client server computer system.

FIG. 1C illustrates a block diagram of a computer workstation coupled tomultiple display systems.

FIG. 2 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an embodiment of avideo memory system read by several display controllers which are inturn in communication with several displays.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a generic video frame according tovarious embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram illustrating a video memory systemthat is read by several display controllers under the control of readcontroller in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a method tooptimize memory bandwidth.

FIG. 6 is a timing diagram illustrating the performance of an exampleembodiment.

FIG. 7 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of machine in theexample form of a computer system within which a set of instructions,for causing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein, may be executed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description includes references to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part of the detailed description.The drawings show illustrations in accordance with example embodiments.These embodiments, which are also referred to herein as “examples,” aredescribed in enough detail to enable those skilled in the art topractice the invention. It will be apparent to one skilled in the artthat specific details in the example embodiments are not required inorder to practice the present invention. For example, although theexample embodiments are disclosed by way of example with reference to athin-client system, the teachings can be used in any type of videodisplay system including personal computer systems, High-DefinitionTelevisions (HDTVs), and mobile computer systems. The exampleembodiments may be combined, other embodiments may be utilized, orstructural, logical and electrical changes may be made without departingfrom the scope what is claimed. The following detailed description is,therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope is definedby the appended claims and their equivalents.

Computer Systems with Multiple Display Devices

Modern personal computer systems are so powerful that the computingresources in modern personal computer systems generally sit idle for thevast majority of the time. Thus, the valuable computing resources inmodern personal computer systems are being used very inefficiently. Tomore efficiently use the computing resources in modern personal computersystems, such modern personal computer systems may be shared by multipleusers with individual user terminals.

Terminal based computer systems allow for more efficient use ofcomputing resources and reduced computer system maintenance costs.Terminal-based computer systems allow multiple users at individualterminals to share a single computer system and all of the softwareinstalled on that computer system. Modern terminal devices may usehigh-resolution display systems when sharing a server computer system inorder to provide each terminal user a rich experience. In this manner,multiple high-resolution terminals coupled to a shared computer systemare capable of delivering the functionality of a personal computersystem to each terminal user without the cost and the maintenancerequirements of allocating a personal computer to each user.

One category of these modern terminal systems is called “thin-client”systems. A thin-client is a terminal system that only has a limitedsubset of the full capabilities of a traditional computer system. Forexample, a thin-client terminal system may have an audio output system,a high-resolution video display, and systems for supporting input with akeyboard and mouse. The thin-client terminal system relies on thecentral computer system to provide processing power, software, mainmemory, long term storage, and all the other elements associated with acomputer system.

FIG. 1A illustrates an example deployment of a terminal based computersystem where a server system provides computer resources to multipleclient terminal systems. More specifically, FIG. 1A shows a server-basedthin-client environment in which a single thin-client server computersystem 160 provides computer processing resources to many individualthin-client terminal workstations 104. In the embodiment of FIG. 1A,each of the individual thin-client terminal workstations 104 includes athin-client terminal device 106 that is coupled to the thin-clientserver computer system 160 with a bi-directional communication channelthat carries output from the server computer system 160 to thethin-client terminal device 106 and user input from the thin-clientterminal device 106 to the thin-client server computer system 160.

The thin-client terminal workstations 104 illustrated in FIG. 1Aconsists of a video display monitor, a keyboard, a cursor controldevice, and the thin-client device 106. In some embodiments, thethin-client server computer system 160 may also be connected to a localdisplay, keyboard, and cursor control device to support an additionaluser working directly on the thin-client server computer system 160.

In the example system of FIG. 1A, the thin-client terminal devices 106act as simple terminal devices for interacting with thin-client servercomputer system 160. Each thin-client terminal device 106 may transmitits keystrokes and cursor control device movements (e.g., inputmanipulations by a user) as input to the server computer system 160 andthe server computer system 160 transmits video display information ordisplay data as output to the thin-client device 106. Each of theindividual thin-client terminal devices 106 of the thin-client terminalworkstations 104 is coupled to the thin-client server computer system160 through the thin-client server computer system's connection module150. The connection module 150 may be an input/output (I/O) device suchas a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) card with multipleinput/output connections for connecting each thin-client device 106 tothe server computer system 160.

FIG. 1B illustrates a detailed block diagram depicting the internals ofone particular embodiment of the thin-client terminal device 106 andthin-client server system 160 of FIG. 1A. In the embodiment of FIG. 1B,a server computer system 160 is coupled to one thin-client terminaldevice 106 of possibly many thin-client terminal systems. When combinedwith a keyboard, a cursor control device, and a video display system thethin-client terminal device 106 forms a thin-client terminal workstation104 as depicted in FIG. 1A.

The thin-client server computer system 160 and thin-client terminaldevice 106 are coupled together using a multi-conductor wire 130. Themulti-conductor wire 130 carries input from the user at the thin-clientterminal device 106 to the server computer system 160 and output fromthe server computer system 160 to the thin-client terminal device 106.In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, the thin-clientterminal device 106 is a very primitive interface device that mainlyfunctions as a pass-through device. The majority of the hardware to makethe thin-client terminal device 106 function actually resides within theserver computer system 160. Thus, a thin-client terminal system 105 isconceptually illustrated as the thin-client terminal device 106 and theassociated hardware and software within the server computer system 160that drives the thin-client terminal device 106.

The goal of thin-client terminal workstation 104 is to provide most orall of the standard input and output features of a typical personalcomputer system to the user of the thin-client terminal system 104. Toreduce costs, the thin-client terminal device 106 will not provide thefull computing resources of a personal computer system or applicationsoftware within thin-client terminal device 106. Instead, those featureswill be provided by the thin-client server system 160 that will interactwith the thin-client terminal device 106. In this manner, the cost ofthe thin-client terminal device 106 will be very low.

In the thin-client embodiment of FIG. 1B, the thin-client terminaldevice 106 acts largely as a pass through system such that much of thehardware for the thin-client terminal system 104 actually resides withinthe thin-client server system 160. Specifically, a dashed line aroundthe thin-client terminal device 106 and the connection module 150 withinthe physical enclosure of the thin-client server system 160 make up thefull thin-client terminal system 105. Such an arrangement that placesparts of the full thin-client terminal system 105 within the physicalenclosure of the thin-client server system 160 allows the thin-clientterminal device 106 located at the end user location to be veryinexpensive since it is effectively a pass-thru device. The connectionmodule 150 of the full thin-client terminal system 105 within thephysical enclosure of the thin-client server system 160 is able to takeadvantage of the infrastructure in the thin-client server system 160such as the power system and the high-speed bus system. In oneembodiment, the connection module 150 of the full thin-client terminalsystem 105 is implemented with a PCI card installed in a personalcomputer system.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1B, a connection module 150 in the thin-clientserver system 160 is responsible for interacting with all of theattached thin-client terminal workstations 104. In one embodiment, theconnection module 150 is implemented on a PCI card installed in apersonal computer system.

To generate video output for each thin-client terminal workstation 104 athin-client video subsystem 114 in the connection module 150 maintains aframe buffer 115 for each of the each thin-client terminal workstations104 In one embodiment, the frame buffers 115 in the thin-client videosubsystem 114 are filled with data from video driver software 117running on the server system 160. In such an embodiment, the serversystem operates directly on the thin-client frame buffers 115 to usingthe video driver software 117 to create a representation of eachterminal's display. The frame buffers 115 in the thin-client videosubsystem 114 are then used to drive a video signal for display system167 the of thin-client terminal system 104. Specifically, video displaydriver circuitry within the thin-client video subsystem 114 reads theframe buffer 115 contents and drives an video output signal 121 for eachfor each thin-client terminal device 106. In one embodiment, the videooutput signal 121 is an analog video signal to keep costs low. However,in alternate embodiments, the video output signal 121 may be a digitalvideo signal. Interface and control circuitry 165 within the thin-clientterminal device 106 passes the video signal to video output circuitry163. The video output circuitry 163 passes the video output signal to avideo display monitor 167.

Audio output handled in a similar manner wherein an thin-client audiosystem 112 generates audio output 122 for each thin-client terminalworkstation 104. Depending on the implementation, the thin-client audiosystem 112 may generate digital or analog output on audio output line122.

Within the thin-client terminal device 106, the interface and controlcircuitry 165 passes the audio signal to audio circuitry 172. The audiocircuitry 172 drives an analog audio output signal. In embodimentswherein the thin-client terminal device 106 receives a digitally encodedaudio signal, the audio circuitry 172 decodes the digital audio signaland uses the data to modulate an analog audio signal that is output. Inembodiments wherein the thin-client terminal device 106 receives ananalog audio signal, the audio output circuitry 172 merely passes theanalog audio signal through to the audio output connector. In theembodiment of FIG. 1B, the video display monitor 167 includes built inspeakers such that the audio signal is provided to the video displaymonitor 167 to drive those built-in speakers. If the video displaymonitor 167 lacks speakers, the analog audio signal may be passed to aset of powered speaker.

User Input to the thin-client terminal device 106 is handled using aninput control system 181. The input control system 181 receiveskeystroke input information from a keyboard 183 (coupled to a keyboardconnector 182) and cursor control input information from a computermouse 186 (coupled to a mouse connector 185). The input control system181 encodes this keyboard and cursor control input information andpasses that input information through interface and control circuitry165 to a thin-client input interface system 111 in the server system160. In one particular embodiment, the design of the thin-clientterminal device 106 is so efficient that each thin-client terminaldevice 106 may receive all its needed electrical power from a power outconductor 123 in the multi-conductor wire 130.

On the server side, the thin-client server computer system 160 isequipped with multi-tasking network terminal software for interactingwith multiple thin-client systems. As illustrated in FIG. 1B, theconnection module 150 in thin-client server system 160 supports thethin-client terminal device 106 as well as any other thin-clientterminal devices coupled to thin-client server system 160. Eachthin-client terminal device 106 will have its own dedicated frame buffer115 within the thin-client video subsystem 115 of the connection module150.

Although the techniques set forth this document will mainly be disclosedwith reference to thin-client terminal systems coupled to a centralcomputer system as illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the techniquesdescribed herein are applicable to any type of computer system thatdrives multiple video display systems. For example, the computerworkstation 166 illustrated in FIG. 1C drives multiple display systems(131 to 135). Multiple workstation frame buffers 155 within a videosubsystem 151 are used to drive the display systems (131 to 135). Thevideo subsystem 151 of workstation 166 may also use the teachings of thepresent disclosure.

Video Memory System Requirements

The video memory bandwidth required to support multiple video displaysmay be quite large depending on the number of video displays supportedand the resolution of those video displays. In general, the displayresolutions of video display systems are defined by a set of commonvideo standards, such as the Video Electronics Standards Association(VESA) standards, in order to enable use of commodity display monitors.The memory bandwidth required may also vary depending on when eachsupported video display system is requesting data from the video memorysystem. When all video display drivers simultaneously request data fromthe video memory system to drive their associated display systems, thememory bandwidth requirements are at a peak, whereas at other times, thevideo memory bandwidth required will not be as high.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C, a computer system may beimplemented with a single video memory system that supports multiplevideo displays connected to the computer system. The video memory systemmay include a frame buffer for each video display the system supports.The frame buffer holds a representation of the video display that mustbe regularly refreshed to the display system. The video memory systemmay use a single memory that maintains all the frame buffers for alldisplay systems connected to the computer system. That video memorysystem will have a maximum bandwidth (a rate at which data may be readfrom the memory system) that cannot be exceeded.

In certain embodiments, each display driver may be read out graphicaldisplay information from the frame buffer in the video memory and placethat graphical information into a small memory buffer known as aFirst-In-First-Out (FIFO) buffer. The FIFO buffer may be used astemporary storage to receive data at a certain speed and output thatdata at a different speed. Using FIFO buffers enables a displaycontroller efficiently buffer graphical information that is then used todrive a display device. The rate at which the display driver reads thedata from the frame buffer will depend on the resolution and refreshrate being used.

FIG. 2 illustrates a conceptual diagram that illustrates the videomemory bandwidth bottleneck of a video memory system 210 read bymultiple display controllers 445 to feed FIFO buffers 240 used to driveassociated display systems 250. The FIFO buffers 240 are read by thevideo signal generator to drive video output signals to drive theassociated display systems 250. In one embodiment, the video signalgenerator outputs an analog video signal to keep the costs low. However,in alternate embodiments, the video signal generator may output digitalvideo signals (such as DVI or HDMI) to drive the display systems 250.

In FIG. 2, video memory system 210 maintains a frame buffer 115 for eachof the associated display systems 250. The video memory system 210 mayhave a maximum memory bandwidth that is conceptually illustrated as adata pipe 230. A video display controller 445 must read screen displaydata in each frame buffer 115 and provide that data to a correspondingFIFO buffer 240 which in turn feeds the video signal generator (notshown) that generates the video display signal for an associated displaysystem 250. Data will be read out of the frame buffer 115 by the displayadapters at a data rate needed for generating a display signal at aparticular screen resolution and frame rate. However, the combined speedof all the data transfers from the frame buffers 115 in the video memorysystem 210 by the display controllers 445 cannot exceed the maximummemory bandwidth of the video memory system 210 as conceptuallyrepresented by data pipe 230.

To further illustrate the video memory bandwidth issue, an example ishereby provided. If a video memory system is constructed withdouble-data-rate (DDR) memory, a 32 bit wide (4 bytes) data bus, andruns at 133 MHz then the maximum memory bandwidth of the video memorysystem is provided by the following calculation:133 Mhz*2(double rate)*4 bytes=1.064 Gigabytes per second.

The total rate of data being read out by display controllers and copiedinto the FIFOs for the display cannot at any time exceed that maximummemory bandwidth amount. Note that in addition to the read-out to theframe buffers, there are also other applications that wish to access thesame video memory. Specifically, referring to FIG. 1B, the server system160 must provide the display screen updates to the thin-client framebuffers 115 used to drive the terminal display systems. However, suchscreen display memory updates are generally much slower than theconstant high speed read-outs of the frame buffers 115 in the videomemory to generate the video refreshes to a display system. Thus, thewrites to the video memory system must be accounted for in a real designbut will be ignored for simplification in this illustrative example.

When reading from video memory system 210, the total data rate ofdisplay drivers for each monitor must not exceed the memory bandwidthrequirements of the video memory system 210 in terms of average memorybandwidth usage or peak memory bandwidth usage. The average memorybandwidth is the memory bandwidth used by all the display driversaveraged over a period of time. The peak memory bandwidth usage is thehighest memory bandwidth at any one particular time.

The memory bandwidth required to drive a single 1280×1024 display with arefresh rate of 60 Hz and color depth of 16-bits (2 bytes/pixel) is1280×1024*2*60=157.3 MB/sec. For total of 5 such displays, the totalaverage bandwidth requirement is 157.3*5=786.5 MB/sec. Since thisaverage memory bandwidth requirement is much less than 1.06 GB/secbandwidth available from the memory system described above, it wouldappear that memory system would be sufficient to drive all five displaysystems. However, the peak memory bandwidth requirements can overtax thevideo memory system as set forth below. Specifically, if all framebuffers are accessed simultaneously the memory bandwidth of the videomemory system may be exceeded as set forth below.

The following Table 1 lists examples of some of the most commonly usedstandard monitor display resolutions, refresh frequencies, and theircorresponding pixel clock frequencies. The pixel clock frequency is thefrequency at which the display system must render pixels including allof the pixel times in the vertical and horizontal refresh periods. Forexample, the total number of pixels (including refresh periods) for a1024 by 768 is 1344 by 806. Thus, the pixel frequency for a 1024 by 768display at 60 frames per second is calculated as follows:Pixel Frequency=1344*806*60 Hz=65 Mhz

In addition, the amount of time required to draw one pixel on a displaysystem has been calculated and provided. Note that the number of pixelson screen multiplied by the amount of time to draw a single pixel doesnot equal the time to draw a full frame since the refresh time must alsoinclude the vertical and horizontal refresh intervals.

TABLE 1 Pixel Rates Number of active pixels Number of Pixel Amount of inone active lines Frame Clock time to draw horizontal in one frequencyfrequency one pixel line screen (Hz) (Mhz) (nsec) 1024 768 60 65 15.41280 1024 60 108 9.3 1440 900 60 106.5 9.4

A display monitor must receive information for one pixel during eachpixel time period as defined by the standard, or the monitor will not beable to display the data properly. With multiple displays, thetransmission rate for each display is combined and must remain withinthe maximum bandwidth of the memory system.

Using the amount of time per pixel values from Table 1, the followingTable 2 shows example amounts of data for each pixel (2 bytes) and thedata rate required to support various numbers of displays. Theassumption is 16 bits for color and all displays' active pixels aredrawn at the same time. The data rates are calculated with the followingformula:(clock frequency)*(bytes/pixel)*(number of displays)=total data rate

TABLE 2 Data Rates for Multiple Displays Pixel Clock Number Peak datarate for all displays Frequency Data per of accesses frame buffers (Mhz)pixel (bytes) displays concurrently (MB per second)   65 Mhz 2 bytes 1130 Megabytes/second   65 Mhz 2 bytes 3 390 Megabytes/second   65 Mhz 2bytes 4 520 Megabytes/second   65 Mhz 2 bytes 5 650 Megabytes/second 108 Mhz 2 bytes 1 216 Megabytes/second  108 Mhz 2 bytes 3 648Megabytes/second  108 Mhz 2 bytes 4 864 Megabytes/second  108 Mhz 2bytes 5 1080 Megabytes/second  106.5 Mhz 2 bytes 1 213 Megabytes/second106.5 Mhz 2 bytes 3 639 Megabytes/second 106.5 Mhz 2 bytes 4 852Megabytes/second 106.5 Mhz 2 bytes 5 1065 Megabytes/second 

As illustrated in Table 2, there are two cases where it is impossible tosupport a certain number of display systems reading concurrently fromthe video memory system with the example memory system. For example,since the example memory system only supports a maximum memory bandwidthof 1.06 GBytes/second and the memory bandwidth required to run fivedisplays at 1280×1024 resolution is 1.08 GBytes/second the system willbe unable to support that resolution. The FIFOs in the display hardwarewould be able to drive the displays at the proper frequency but thoseFIFOs would run out of display data because the image stored in theshared memory system cannot be read quickly enough. Similarly, at thedisplay resolution of 1440×900, the required bandwidth is 1.065 GBpswhich is slightly above the theoretical maximum memory bandwidth in theexample system. In this case, there is no additional memory bandwidthavailable to update the frame buffers when new display data isavailable.

The other factor that affects the memory bandwidth is latencies inherentin the memory system. In the example system, 1.06 GBps is thetheoretical maximum. However, the actual maximum transfer speed of thememory system depends on many different factors and often the actualmaximum is well below the theoretical maximum memory bandwidth. Thetheoretical maximum memory bandwidth assumes memory accesses always bedirected to currently available memory pages always. Such is not thecase. Depending on memory accesses from other components (CPU, PCI,etc.) as well as the sequence at which the memory is accessed bydifferent display engines, a particular memory page requires replacementwith a new one causing a loss of performance on the memory side. Memorypage size varies from memory to memory and is also dependent on thesystem configuration (memory data width). For a particular 32 bit DDR2memory, page size can be 4 KB with 4 or 8 (memory dependent) pages to bereadily available at any point of time.

As set forth above, the video memory bandwidth requirements to drivemultiple displays is quite high. In order to handle the memory bandwidthrequirements of the multiple displays, a video memory system withgreater bandwidth capabilities may be used. For example, a high-speedvideo memory that is capable of handling frame buffer requests from allof the displays at the same time may be used to implement video memorysystem 210. However, such specialized video memory systems with greaterbandwidth capabilities come at the expense of greater cost.

To avoid the need for expensive high-speed video memory devices, thepresent disclosure introduces a method of reducing the video memoryrequirements. In the proposed system, the high memory bandwidthrequirements of driving multiple display systems may be addressed byreducing the peak memory bandwidth requirement. Reducing the peak memorybandwidth requirements may be accomplished by strategically schedulingor staggering the reading of display data from the video memory systemin a manner that takes advantage of the video blanking intervals (i.e.,blanking time) of each display system.

Due to the historical use of cathode ray tube displays systems, anindividual display image or frame is “drawn” on a display screen bysuccessively sweeping an electrical signal horizontally across thedisplay screen one line at a time, from top to bottom. At the end ofeach horizontal line, there is generally a period of time before thenext horizontal line is drawn. This period of time is known as ahorizontal blanking interval (i.e., horizontal blank time). (In atraditional cathode ray tube display system, this time allowed thedisplay electronics to redirect the electron gun back to the beginningof the next horizontal line.) When all of the successive horizontallines of a display screen are drawn, there generally is a period of timebefore the next temporally successive video frame is drawn. This periodof time is known as a vertical blanking interval (i.e., vertical blanktime). In a traditional cathode ray tube, the vertical blanking intervalallowed a display system to move the electron gun back to the top of thedisplay system. Modern flat panel displays that may not draw a frame bysweeping an electrical signal horizontally across the display one lineat a time generally also support horizontal and vertical blankingintervals for compatibility reasons.

FIG. 3 illustrates a conceptual diagram of a generic video frame thatgraphically illustrates the display area and the blanking intervals. Thescreen geometry includes an addressable video portion 310 that isactually visible on a display and a blanking interval 330 thatrepresents a time period wherein nothing is displayed. In oneembodiment, there is also a border around the addressable video portion310 that represents the darkened area on the edge of a cathode ray tubedisplay system where no image is being rendered. In some embodiments,display data only needs to be transferred for addressable video portions310 of the video frame.

In various embodiments, the use of the memory bandwidth for a videomemory system is optimized by scheduling or staggering the reading ofdata from the video memory system to take advantage of the blankinginterval (i.e., blanking time) of each display. For example, memoryreads from the video memory system may be staggered or synchronized suchthat not all display controllers will simultaneously request displaydata from the associated frame buffers stored in the memory system atthe same time. In this way, the peak bandwidth requirements may bereduced. In one embodiment, the display controllers may be started in aparticular sequence such that not all display controllers will needdisplay data from the memory system at the same time.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a video memory system 410 incommunication with a video display system 460 having one or more displaycontrollers 445 that feed FIFO buffers 440. The FIFO buffers 440 are inturn in communication with several display systems 450 in accordancewith various embodiments. The video memory system 410 maintain framebuffers 115 for multiple associated display systems 450. The one or moreframe buffers 115 may be used to support multiple display systems 450 onterminal systems and thus form part of a thin-client server systemconfigured to run virtualization software to provide softwareapplications to multiple terminal system users. The video memory system410 may have a maximum memory bandwidth conceptually represented by datapipe 430.

A read controller 415 in the video display system 460 coordinates readsof image data from the video memory system 410 of FIG. 4. The readcontroller 415 is responsible for coordinating access by displaycontrollers 445 into the frame buffers 115 in the video memory system410. The read controller 415 may be configured to stagger, schedule, orsynchronize the reading of data from the individual frame buffers 115 ofthe video memory system 410. For example, the read controller 415 maygenerate a read trigger for the display controller 445 associated witheach FIFO buffer 440 that causes the triggered display controller 445 toread display data from a frame buffer 115 and place that display data inthe associated FIFO buffer 440. The display data (e.g., horizontal line)in the FIFO buffer 440 may then be used by a video signal generator (notshown) to generate a display signal for the associated display system450.

The read controller 415 may generate read triggers such that at leasttwo of the read triggers are staggered in manner that prevents all ofthe frame buffers 115 from being accessed simultaneously. The staggeringof the read triggers may be based on one or more of the following: aconstant time interval, the refresh rates supported, the number ofdisplays supported, the total resolution supported, the addressablevideo resolution supported, etc.

Display controllers 445 may be configured to start a read process forone of the FIFO buffers 440 in response to a read trigger from the readcontroller 415 in order to read display data from the correspondingframe buffer 115 into the FIFO buffer 440. Although in FIG. 4, more thanone display controller 445 is shown, in other embodiments, just onedisplay controller 445 may be configured to start the read processes forall of the FIFO buffers 440.

In some embodiments, a counter may be used to help stagger or schedulethe display controller 445 reading of graphical data from the framebuffers 115 of the video memory system 410. For example, the readcontroller 415 may determine a “start count” for each display controller445 and generate a read trigger at the correct time to enable thedisplay controller 445 to read from its associated frame buffer 115. Thestart count may be used to determine when the read controller 415 shouldgenerate a start signal for a particular display controller 445 andassociated FIFO buffer 440. In various embodiments, the counter may be atimer, a counter that counts clock signals, a pixel clock (i.e., pixelcounter), or any other appropriate signal.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram describing one embodiment of a method500 to optimize video memory bandwidth. The method 500 may be performedby processing logic that may comprise hardware (e.g., dedicated logic,programmable logic, microcode, etc.), software (such as run on a generalpurpose computer system or a dedicated machine), or a combination ofboth.

At operation 510, a controller (such as read controller 415) maydetermine a start count for each display controller 445. The startcounts may be determined dynamically as each additional display systemcomes online and requires data from the video memory system or thestart. The start count may be calculated based on a number of factors.In one embodiment, the start count may be calculated based on theresolution of the addressable video portion of a supported display(vertical and horizontal), the total resolution of a supported display(vertical and horizontal), the refresh rate of a supported display, andthe number of displays supported by the memory system. However, in asimple system, the start count may also be a constant time interval.

For illustration purposes, an example scenario will be presented for afive display system. In the example scenario, a video memory system maybe configured to support five display systems wherein each display isconfigured to have an addressable video resolution of 1280×1024 pixels.Although the addressable video resolution is 1280×1024 pixels, the totalresolution may be bigger after taking into account for any border aroundthe addressable video portion and the (horizontal and vertical) blankingtime. For example, a display with an addressable video resolution of1280×1024 may have a total resolution of 1688×1066 according to a VideoElectronics Standards Association (VESA) standard.

To reduce the peak bandwidth requirements on the video memory system,the start counts may be staggered based on the horizontal resolution.With the total horizontal resolution being 1688 pixels, the start countsmay be offset at 337 pixels (1688 total horizontal pixels/5 displays).Therefore, a start count for the first display controller would be atpixel count 0, the start count for the second display controller wouldbe at pixel count 337, the start count for the third display controllerwould be at pixel count 674, the start count for the fourth displaycontroller would be at pixel count 1011, and the start count for thefifth display controller would be at pixel count 1348.

Start counts may also be determined based on the vertical resolution ofa display. In the example discussed above, a display with a verticaladdressable video resolution of 1024 pixels may have a total verticalresolution of 1066 pixels. The start counts determined based on thevertical resolution may be offset at 213 pixels (1066 total verticalpixels/5 displays). Therefore, a start count for the first displaycontroller would be at line count 0, the start count for the seconddisplay controller would be at line count 213, the start count for thethird display controller would be at line count 426, the start count forthe fourth display controller would be at pixel count line, and thestart count for the fifth display controller would be at line count 852.In another embodiment, start counts may be determined based on acombination of the horizontal resolution and the vertical resolution.

In another embodiment, the start counts may be determined based on thenon-addressable portion of a frame or blanking time. For example, adisplay with a horizontal addressable video resolution of 1280 pixelsmay have a total horizontal resolution of 1688 pixels. Therefore,non-addressable portion of a frame is 408 pixels (1688−1280=408) pixels.The offset between start counts may be equal to or a function of thenon-addressable portion of the frame. In this case, the offset may be408 and start counts may be 0, 408, 816, 818, and 1226.

In another embodiment, the start count may be determined by dividing thetotal time a monitor takes to cover an entire line of pixels(addressable and non-addressable) by the number of displays and usingthe resulting number to stagger the start counts. The start count mayalso be staggered using the time a monitor uses for the non-addressableportion of a resolution. In still other embodiments, the staggering ofthe start counts resulting in staggered read triggers may be based on anarbitrary time interval, the bandwidth of the memory system, and thenumber of displays using the memory system.

Once the start counts are determined, a counter may be started atoperation 515 in FIG. 5. This counter may count a pixel clock (i.e., apixel counter, also sometimes known as a dot clock) or any other counteror timer that is compatible with the start count. At operation 520, theread controller generates a read trigger when the counter reaches thestart count for one of the display controllers.

Referring to the example discussed above where the start counts arebased on the horizontal resolution and the horizontal resolution is1280, there would be a read trigger generated for the first displaycontroller, with an associated start count of 0, when a pixel counterstarts at 0. A second read trigger may be generated for the seconddisplay controller, with an associated start count of 337, when thecounter reaches 337. Additional read trigger signals would be generatedfor the other display controllers when the counter reaches the nextmultiple of 337 (674, 1011, and 1348). Since the start count of thefifth monitor is at pixel time 1348, the reads for fifth monitor willnot begin until the reads for the first display controller are completedat time 1280. And since amount of time for the horizontal refresh, thetime for inactive number of pixels (1688−1280=408), is larger than the337 pixel clock stagger time, the first display controller will notbegin reading again until the second display controller has completedits reading. Specifically, the first display controller will begin a newhorizontal scan after 1688 pixel clocks (1280 addressable pixels and 408non addressable pixel times in the horizontal refresh) after the seconddisplay controller completes its horizontal row at pixel clock time 1617(after 1280 pixels rendered beginning at pixel time 337). Thus, at nopoint in time will all five display controllers read data from the videomemory system at the same time. The peak memory bandwidth requirement isthereby reduced because at a maximum, only four display controllers willread data from the video memory system at the same time.

In one embodiment, the read controller generates a read trigger andsends it to a specific display controller. However, in otherembodiments, the read controller broadcasts differentiated start signalsto all display controllers. For example, a “Start1” signal may begenerated to start the read process for the first display controller, a“Start2” signal may be generated to start the read process for thesecond display controller, a “Start3” signal may be generated to startthe read process for the third display controller, and so on and soforth.

At operation 525, a triggered display controller starts a read processfor its FIFO buffer in response to the read trigger sent at operation520. The triggered display controller will read display data from aframe buffer in the video memory system into the associated FIFO bufferat operation 530. At operation 535, data in the FIFO buffer may berendered on a display. Note that that the stages from 520 to 535 will beperformed repeatedly. If the system is using a dynamic system, then whena new display is added (or the parameters of an existing display systemare changed) then the system will return back to stage 510 torecalculate start counts for each display system.

In some embodiments, subsequent signals may be sent to ensuresynchronization of the FIFO buffers. In other embodiments, however, nofurther signals are required.

FIG. 6 illustrates a timing diagram depicting the performance of anexample embodiment. In the example embodiment, five displays with anaddressable video resolution of 1280×1024 and a total resolution of1688×1066 are supported. The start counts are staggered based on thehorizontal resolution with an offset of 337 pixels (1688 totalhorizontal pixels/5 displays). Therefore, a start count for the firstdisplay controller would be at pixel count 0 (and end at pixel count1280), the start count for the second display controller would be atpixel count 337 (and end at pixel count 1617), the start count for thethird display controller would be at pixel count 674 (and end at 1954,the start count for the fourth display controller would be at pixelcount 1011 (and end at 2291), and the start count for the fifth displaycontroller would be at pixel count 1348 (and end at 2628).

In response to the start signals, one or more display controllers maystart the read process from the frame buffer. In this example, thedisplay controller may begin to read display data from the frame buffercorresponding to the first line of pixels (1280 pixels) of theaddressable video (labelled “AV” in FIG. 6). This is followed by ablanking time, labelled “BT” in FIG. 6, of 408 pixels (total horizontaltime resolution of 1688 pixels−horizontal addressable video resolutionof 1280 pixels=408 pixels). This process repeats until all lines of avideo frame are read out of the frame buffer.

Referring to FIG. 6, at pixel count 0 (designated by time marker 640) aread controller generates a “Start 1” signal and the frame buffer readprocess is started for the first display controller. At count 337(designated by time marker 642) the read controller generates a “Start2” signal and the frame buffer read process is started for the seconddisplay controller. At count 674 (designated by time marker 644) theread controller generates a “Start 3” signal and the read process isstarted for the third display controller. At count 1011 (designated bytime marker 646) the read controller generates a “Start 4” signal andthe read process is started for the fourth display controller.

At this point, there are four display controllers concurrently accessingthe shared video memory. If another display controller were to beginaccessing the shared video memory, the maximum bandwidth of the memorymay be exceeded. However, at time count 1280 (designated by time marker647) the frame buffer read performed by the first display controllerwill end such that there are now only 3 display controller concurrentlyaccessing the shared memory. Then at count 1348 (designated by timemarker 648) the read controller generates a “Start 5” signal and theread process is started for the fifth display controller such that thereare four display controllers reading from the memory. The second displaycontroller will then stop reading at count 1617 (designated by timemarker 648) before the first display controller begins reading again atcount 1688. Thus, one of the four display controllers will always stopreading before a subsequent display controller begins reading. Thismeans that the number of display controllers concurrently reading fromthe shared memory will oscillated between 3 and 4 as illustrated in FIG.6.

As can be seen in FIG. 6, staggering the start of the five displaycontrollers prevents more than four display controllers from reading aframe buffer in the video memory system at the same time. Specifically,at the bottom of FIG. 6, the number of display controllers concurrentlyreading from the video memory at a specific interval is shown in the rowlabelled “# DCs Reading” (number of Display controllers concurrentlyreading) Thus, although there are five different display systems beingprovided with graphical display data, at most only four display adapterswill be reading from the video memory system simultaneously since atleast one of the display adapters will be within a horizontal blankingtime (market as “BT” in FIG. 6.) wherein no display data is needed.

FIG. 7 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of machine in theexample form of a computer system 700, in accordance with an exampleembodiment, within which a set of instructions 724, for causing themachine to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussedherein, may be executed. The machine may operate as a standalone deviceor may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networkeddeployment, the machine may operate in the capacity of a server or aclient machine in a server-client network environment, or as a peermachine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. Themachine may be a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box(STB), or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions(sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by thatmachine. Further, while only a single machine is illustrated, the term“machine” shall also be taken to include any collection of machines thatindividually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructionsto perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

The example computer system 700 includes a processor 702 (e.g., acentral processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU) orboth), a main memory 704 and a static memory 706, which communicate witheach other via a bus 708. The computer system 700 may further include avideo display adapter 710 that drives a video display system 715 such asa Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) or a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT). The computersystem 700 also includes an alphanumeric input device 712 (e.g., akeyboard), a cursor control device 714 (e.g., a mouse or trackball), adisk drive unit 716, a signal generation device 718 (e.g., a speaker)and a network interface device 720.

In an example embodiment, a CPU is a device that controls overalloperation of computer system 700. The CPU operates in multiple statesand controls operations of receiving data from various input devices,processing the data, and sending the process result to an output device.The CPU includes an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) and a control unit. TheALU performs comparison, decision, and calculation operations, and thecontrol unit decodes and executes instructions. The ALU includes: anadder for adding numbers; an accumulator for temporarily storing theresult of arithmetic and logic operations; and registers. The controlunit includes a program counter for controlling an execution order ofprograms, and an instruction register for temporarily storing a currentinstruction, and an instruction decoder for decoding the storedinstruction to send a control signal to a corresponding device.Therefore, CPU based system 700 can perform independently based oninstructions programmed in memory regardless whether or not it isconnected to other computers, a network or other electronic devices.

The disk drive unit 716 includes a machine-readable medium 722 on whichis stored one or more sets of computer instructions and data structures(e.g., instructions 724 also known as ‘software’) embodying or utilizedby any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein.The instructions 724 may also reside, completely or at least partially,within the main memory 704 and/or within the processor 702 duringexecution thereof by the computer system 700, the main memory 704 andthe processor 702 also constituting machine-readable media.

The instructions 724 may further be transmitted or received over anetwork 726 via the network interface device 720 utilizing any one of anumber of well-known transfer protocols (e.g., FTP).

While the machine-readable medium 722 is shown in an example embodimentto be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should betaken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralizedor distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) thatstore the one or more sets of instructions. The term “machine-readablemedium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by themachine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies described herein, or that is capable of storing, encodingor carrying data structures utilized by or associated with such a set ofinstructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shall accordingly betaken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, opticalmedia, and magnetic media.

For the purposes of this specification, the term “module” includes anidentifiable portion of code, computational or executable instructions,data, or computational object to achieve a particular function,operation, processing, or procedure. A module need not be implemented insoftware; a module may be implemented in software, hardware/circuitry,or a combination of software and hardware.

In a personal computer system, such as the computer system 700 of FIG.7, a video display adapter 710 drives a local video display system 715such as a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), orother video display device. Currently, most personal computer systemsare connected with an analog Video Graphics Array (VGA) connection. Manynewer personal computer systems are using digital video connections suchas Digital Visual Interface (DVI) or High-Definition MultimediaInterface (HDMI). However, these types of video connections aregenerally used for short distances. The DVI and HDMI connections requirehigh bandwidth connections. The video display adaptor 710 may inaddition, or instead, drive a remote display connected to one or morenetwork terminals connected via a network (e.g., a local area network(LAN) or wide area network (WAN)).

In an example situation where the graphics adaptor 710 interfaces with aplurality of networked terminal devices which are thin-clients (e.g.,the clients may or may not include a CPU), the amount of bandwidthrequired for transmitting a video signal may be reduced. For example,over-the-air terrestrial, satellite, and cable digital video broadcastsdesire reduced bandwidth video in order to transmit as many channels ofvideo as possible.

The preceding description is intended to be illustrative, and notrestrictive. For example, the above-described embodiments (or one ormore aspects thereof) may be used in combination with each other. Otherembodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewingthe above description. The scope of the claims should, therefore, bedetermined with reference to the appended claims, along with the fullscope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. In the appendedclaims, the terms “including” and “in which” are used as theplain-English equivalents of the respective terms “comprising” and“wherein.” Also, in the following claims, the terms “including” and“comprising” are open-ended, that is, a system, device, article, orprocess that includes elements in addition to those listed after such aterm in a claim are still deemed to fall within the scope of that claim.In this document, the terms “a” or “an” are used, as is common in patentdocuments, to include one or more than one. In this document, the term“or” is used to refer to a nonexclusive or, such that “A or B” includes“A but not B,” “B but not A,” and “A and B,” unless otherwise indicated.

1. A method of reading display data from a plurality of frame buffers toa plurality of video signal generation circuits, the method comprising:providing a plurality of read triggers, at least two of the readtriggers being staggered, the staggering of the read triggers beingbased on dividing a total resolution supported by a display screen by anumber of display screens supported; in response to each read trigger,reading display data from a frame buffer of the plurality of framebuffers to an associated video signal generation circuit of theplurality of video signal generation circuits, each video signalgeneration circuit for generating an associated video signal of anassociated display screen of the plurality display screens; anddisplaying the display data on the associated display screen.
 2. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the read triggers are staggered to reduce abandwidth required to read the display data relative to a bandwidthrequired to read the display data from the plurality of frame buffers atthe same time.
 3. The method of claim 1 further comprising: staggeringthe read triggers based on a constant time interval.
 4. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising: staggering the read triggers based on atleast one of the number of video signal generation circuits in theplurality of video signal generation circuits and a refresh ratesupported by each video signal generation circuit.
 5. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising: staggering the read triggers based on atleast one of a horizontal addressable video resolution, a verticaladdressable video resolution, a total horizontal resolution supported byeach video signal generation circuit of the plurality of video signalgeneration circuits and a total vertical resolution supported by eachvideo signal generation circuit of the plurality of video signalgeneration circuits.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein each video signalgeneration circuit of the plurality of video signal generation circuitssupports the same resolution and refresh rate.
 7. The method of claim 1wherein the associated display screen comprises a thin-client terminalsystem.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein each video signal generationcircuit forms part of a thin-client connectable to an associated displayscreen.
 9. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of video signalgeneration circuits form part of a server system configured to runvirtualization software to provide software applications to a pluralityof associated thin clients.
 10. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising: starting a counter; and generating a read trigger when thecounter reaches a start count for each video signal generation circuitsof the plurality of video signal generation circuits.
 11. The method ofclaim 10 wherein the start count for each video signal generationcircuit is determined dynamically based on a number of displayssupported.
 12. The method of claim 10 wherein the counter is a pixelcounter.
 13. An apparatus comprising: a plurality of video signalgeneration circuits to receive display data to be displayed on aplurality of display screens, each video signal generation circuit toreceive display data from an associated frame buffer; at least one readcontroller to provide a plurality of read triggers, at least two of theread triggers being staggered, wherein the read controller is configuredto stagger the read triggers based on dividing a total resolutionsupported by a display screen by a number of display screens supported;and at least one display control, in response to each read trigger, toread display data from a frame buffer of the plurality of frame buffersto an associated video signal generation circuit of the plurality ofvideo signal generation circuits, each video signal generation circuitto provide the display data to an associated display screen of aplurality of display screens associated with the plurality of videosignal generation circuits.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein theread triggers are staggered to reduce a bandwidth required to read thedisplay data relative to a bandwidth required to read the display datafrom the plurality of frame buffers at the same time.
 15. The apparatusof claim 13 wherein the read controller is to stagger the read triggersbased on a constant time interval.
 16. The apparatus of claim 13 whereinthe at least one read controller is configured to stagger the readtriggers based on at least one of the number of video signal generationcircuits in the plurality of video signal generation circuits and arefresh rate supported by each video signal generation circuit.
 17. Theapparatus of claim 13 wherein the at least one read controller is tostagger the read triggers based on at least one of a horizontaladdressable video resolution, a vertical addressable video resolution, atotal horizontal resolution supported by each video signal generationcircuit of the plurality of video signal generation circuits and a totalvertical resolution supported by each video signal generation circuit ofthe plurality of video signal generation circuits.
 18. The apparatus ofclaim 13 wherein each video signal generation circuit of the pluralityof video signal generation circuits supports the same resolution andrefresh rate.
 19. The apparatus of claim 13 further comprising aconnection module to transmit a video signal to an associatedthin-client.
 20. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein each video signalgeneration circuit is associated with a thin-client connectable to anassociated display screen.
 21. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein theplurality of frame buffers form part of a server system configured torun virtualization software to provide software applications to aplurality of associated thin clients.
 22. The apparatus of claim 13further comprising: a counter; and wherein the at least one readcontroller is to generate a read trigger when the counter reaches astart count for each video signal generation circuit of the plurality ofvideo signal generation circuits.
 23. The apparatus of claim 22 whereinthe start count for each video signal generation circuit is determineddynamically based on a number of displays supported.
 24. The apparatusof claim 22 wherein the counter is a pixel counter.
 25. An apparatuscomprising: a first means for providing a plurality of read triggers, atleast two of the read triggers being staggered, and wherein thestaggering of the read triggers is based on dividing a total resolutionsupported by a display screen by a number of display screens supported;and a second means for, in response to each read trigger, readingdisplay data from a frame buffer of the plurality of frame buffers to anassociated video signal generation circuit of the plurality of videosignal generation circuits, each video signal generation circuit toprovide the display data to an associated display screen of theplurality display screens associated with the plurality of video signalgeneration circuits.
 26. A non-transitory machine-readable storagemedium embodying instructions that, when executed by a machine, causethe machine to perform operations comprising: providing a plurality ofread triggers, at least two of the read triggers being staggered, thestaggering of the read triggers being based on dividing a totalresolution supported by a display screen by a number of display screenssupported; and in response to each read trigger, reading display datafrom a frame buffer of the plurality of frame buffers to an associatedvideo signal generation circuit of the plurality of video signalgeneration circuits, each video signal generation circuit to provide thedisplay data to an associated display screen of the plurality displayscreens associated with the plurality of video signal generationcircuits.